


Nine Blocks and To-Go Cups

by jackandlanterns



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, Bad Pick-Up Lines, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance is a terrible flirt, M/M, POV Keith (Voltron), coffee shop AU, college student lance, keith's got some mad kissing skills, klance, lance is an oblivious shit sometimes, mostly a shit-ton of fluff, shiro can't name a shop for his life, shiro's coffee house is shit but lance comes anyway, so is keith, so much fluff jesus christ, very much gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-31 22:12:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8595808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jackandlanterns/pseuds/jackandlanterns
Summary: "Can I have...six things of expresso?" Lance asks."Shots?" Keith offers, although he dearly hopes that's not what Lance is asking.  (In which Keith isn't sure how he ended up as a barista working shifts in the god-awful hours of the morning, and Lance is a regular who somehow manages to make it bearable.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> this was actually based on a prompt, but it quickly spiraled out of control and didn't even follow the prompt for the most part. "you usually only order hot chocolate yet today you're ordering something with six shots of expresso, are you okay??? are you gonna die???" -otp prompts, by unadult on wattpad  
> i'm so sorry for this

Keith brightens at the dim ring of the bell. It's been a slow morning, the kind that digs its heels in and rears and leaves Keith watching the clock slowly tick by with mind-numbing boredom. He's had to endure many mornings like these lately, and the only thing that makes it remotely better is the fact that he's getting paid by Shiro for doing practically _nothing_ , he can _almost_ get away with sleeping on the job, and he doesn't have to interact much with anyone because he's been shunted into the morning shift due to the former occupant resigning. The downside was that Pidge, his former main source of entertainment, remained in the afternoon shift.

At least he didn't have to deal with rush hour, or the annoyance of poorly-worded questions on the official website. Pidge was single-handedly running their entire website, while Keith sat on his ass at four o' clock in the morning.

"Hello, welcome to _Out of This World_ coffee!" Keith announces as per his barista duty, or at least tries, but then he yawns mid-sentence and it comes out as something like "hell-mmf- outta this world coffee."

"Yeah, me too." A familiar voice says, and Keith's mouth instantly lifts up in a smile.

"Lance." Keith tries to tone down his pleasure, but he isn't sure it comes out as very neutral. Luckily, Lance just gives him a tired smile, shuffling over to the wooden counter and propping his head up with his arms.

"Do you serve cures for the sick?" Lance slurs sleepily, watching Keith turn to make his hot chocolate with well-practiced ease.

It's instinctive by now. 

Keith snorts. "I wish." He checks for the preheated pot and curses. "Shit."

Lance sniffles, a miserable, wet sound that has Keith glancing back at him. 

"You should take a seat." Keith tells him. "This might take a little longer, sorry."

Lance complies, folding his legs into a chair and slumping over one of the many tables interspersed throughout the shop. Keith privately makes a mental note to wipe off the table later, setting the chocolate to a low heat.

They settle into a comfortable silence, but Keith's been fucking silent since he woke up at an ungodly hour and he's also more than a _little_ concerned about Lance's health so he speaks up anyway.

"You know, this is supposed to be done in the back." Keith says to Lance, who looks positively catatonic from where he's sprawled over the table. "You're witnessing a trade secret."

Lance makes a noncommittal grunt, and Keith gives up.

Keith goes through the motions of making a new batch, sticking a slightly irritably worded post-it note to Pidge on the back counter, who's probably not going to give a shit but is going to be a fine outlet for Keith's slight irritation. It's a healthy relationship.

 _I'll make the batches from now on, but a warning would have been nice._ He writes, and adds a quart of whole milk to the chocolate after he stirs it enough.

Keith's finishing up when Lance finally speaks up again.

"Can I get a to-go cup?" His voice is muffled; Keith glances over to see Lance, head buried securely in the cage of his arms.

"Only for you." Keith says, and Lance must be really tired and sick because he doesn't even acknowledge the fact that Keith is kind-of-maybe flirting back for the first time since Lance had strolled into Shiro's (admittedly) terribly named coffee shop and used every god-awful pick-up line known to man within five minutes.

Lance is an incorrigible flirt; Keith has learned that over the five months they've known each other. Keith can't even call him an acquaintance because they trade banter far too often; he can't call him a best friend because they've never actually "hung out", which leaves Keith with one hell of a headache trying to figure it out. 

He's also learned over the past five months that it's much, much easier to ignore things than contemplate over them obsessively. (This is easy to say in passing; faced with a six-hour shift of hell in the hours at the crack of dawn usually leaves him in a contemplating-obsessively kind of mood, over-analyzing all the shameless pick-up lines Lance tosses out daily.)

"Want eggnog in it?" Keith asks, because Lance usually waffles between peppermint, cinnamon, and just eggnog to top it off.

He doesn't answer, so Keith takes that as a yes and stirs some into one of the store's cheesy trademark paper cups. He plops in a few marshmallows for good measure, and tacks a lid on before reflexively turning the cup to check for a name to call.

He belatedly realizes that it's only Lance in the shop, and decides to just hand-deliver it. 

Why not? He's bored as hell anyway. 

He sets the cup in front of Lance. "Hey." He says, and Lance comes to life again, mumbling something under his breath and slowly unfolding his arms. 

Lance sighs, blowing out air through his mouth, and Keith surreptitiously wipes his mouth. He's not getting sick, _again_. Keith may hardly ever get sick, but he's not keen on missing a day of work when he's thinking about enrolling in a community college and the bills keep coming. 

Lance slowly unravels, arms unfolding and head lifting. His eyes blink; once, twice, hazy and unfocused before they concentrate on the travel cup sat before him.

His eyes travel sluggishly from the coffee to Keith's face, and Keith can literally see Lance's mind processing it, working at half the pace.

"Can I have...six things of expresso?" Lance asks.

"Shots?" Keith offers, although he dearly hopes that's not what Lance is asking. 

It is. Lance nods, reaching forward to wrap his hand around the cup. 

"Careful, it's hot." Keith says, although he suspects it's a futile effort with how often Lance foregoes his warnings anyway.

Sure enough, he lifts it to his mouth, tipping his head back to take a long, deep sip. His long throat arches, and Keith's becomes suddenly dry. He looks away.

Lance takes a loud gulp.

"Jesus Christ." Keith mutters. Lance must be immune to hot coffee. He's never once complained of a burnt tongue. 

"You called?" Lance murmurs, exhaustion evident even in his voice. Of _course_ he's still witty half-dead. Keith looks back at him to see his eyelids drooping. "Where's the....expresso?"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Keith queries. "Isn't caffeine bad for sick people, or something?"

Lance gives him an exasperated look. "I have to go to _class_." 

"You can't be serious." Keith says, although he had suspected because there was no plausible reason for Lance to be here, _at this time,_ otherwise. "Skip it, just this once."

"I can't."

It's Keith's turn to sigh. "When's your class?"

Lance squints at the analog clock propped up on the bar. "Five."

"Hours?" Keith's hopeful for Lance's sake.

"Minutes." Lance groans, and Keith winces.

"You should probably go now." Keith says, when it's clear Lance isn't intent on moving. "On the house."

"Thanks."

 

xxx

 

_Ring. Ring._

Oh _hell_ yes.

"Hello, welcome to _Out of This World_ coffee!" Keith practically yells, and maybe he should've eased up on his caffeine intake but _who fucking cares he works the morning shift anyway._

" _Christ._ " Lance says, and that's when Keith's day goes from tolerable to good.

"Not quite. Hot chocolate?" Keith hardly has to ask; he's already turning to the back counter.

"Yes please. Cinnamon, to-go." Keith turns back to snatch the cinnamon shaker, and Lance sidles up to the front counter, leaning against it. It's a nice sight when Lance has been noticeably absent for the past four days."Hey, are you from hell?"

"Sure." Keith agrees amiably, because he'll fucking agree to anything if Lance would just _keep coming back during his shift._

"Because you're hot." Keith looks back to find Lance waggling his eyebrows suggestively. "As hell."

"Nice try." Keith says, hiding a smile and siphoning off Lance's portion. "You're looking better." 

"If by better, you mean 'conquer the world', then yes. I'm up for Europe. God, I feel so good."

Keith smirks. "Save the conquering for when you can figure out the difference between the sugar and salt shaker."

"That was _one_ time." Lance protests hotly. "And hardly my fault! What _rational_ person expects to find _salt_ in a _coffee shop-"_

"Oh, look, your class is in ten minutes." Keith says, just to be an asshole, and Lance swears loudly before Keith hears the sound of his shoe as he pivots to check the analog clock.

"No it _isn't."_ Lance says. "You're the _worst_ barista in a seventeen state radiu-"

"-excuse me, I'm renowned for my _flawless_ customer service-"

"- that's a bunch of _shit-"_

"- _excuse me,_ will you two stop flirting for just a second, please?" A loud voice says, and Keith whips around from where he's dumping in eggnog (just to spite Lance) to see an actual _customer_ , a respectable looking man in an official-looking suit and black-rimmed glasses. (Why was it that all suits seemed to perpetually be wearing glasses?)

Keith gapes, suddenly glad for the blown lightbulb above the back counter because it hides his mortified flush.

Lance chokes on air, coughing and wheezing as he inhales on absolutely _nothing,_ which Keith would normally find amusing but now he just finds it completely loud in the awkward tension that's suddenly diffused throughout the entire shop.

When he recovers, Keith hands him his cup wordlessly. Lance has the decency to look sheepish as their eyes meet.

"Thank you." The man says blithely into the prominent silence, and Lance fucking _saunters out of the shop_ while Keith is left staring after him, stuck with the official man.

xxx

"I'm your _favorite_ customer." Lance drawls, a few good weeks after the Official Man Incident, when Keith is mixing his hot chocolate with cinnamon at the front counter (because Lance was distrustful after the last mishap).

"You're my _only_ customer." Keith points out, and Lance waves him off with one arm.

"Semantics." Lance mutters.

"That's a big word for you." Keith observes, and Lance glares at him.

( _For once, Lance is utterly, completely right. But Keith is never going to admit to it. Lance's ego hardly needs it._ )

xxx

"What can I get you?" Keith says one day, instead of the usual shtick. He's wanting to mix it up a little.

"A blowjob." Lance says innocently.

"On the house." Keith quips, but he turns to the back counter to hide his goddamn blush.

He doesn't make the same mistake again.

xxx

"Hello, welcome to _Out of This World_ coffee! Shop!" Keith belatedly adds, and spends a good five seconds watching his life unravel before his eyes as he realizes he's been saying it wrong for _seven goddamn months._

Lance laughs, something genuine and loud and fucking adorable and that's when Keith finally inwardly admits to the infatuation that's steadily growing worse.

"Are you the SAT?" Lance asks, and Keith mentally prepares himself for the inevitable line.

"No," Keith says, but it's already too late.

"'Cause I'd do you for three hours and forty-five minutes." Lance tells him, and Keith actually _snorts_ with laughter. Lance watches him with something like smug satisfaction.

"Pretty sure you wouldn't last that long." Keith says, still laughing, and before his eyes Lance actually _blushes._ Which was totally unfair, because Lance was the smooth one.

(And damnit, he looked cute blushing.)

"Peppermint today, to-go. And a bagel." Lance says quickly, taking his usual spot. That is, leaning on the counter in the most _inconvenient fucking way possible when Keith's trying to ring up the total._

Keith raises an eyebrow. "A bagel."

"Yeah, a bagel. You serve things other than coffee, last I checked."

"Last _I_ checked, you never order bagels, so excuse me for being surprised."

"I'm a broke college student." Lance says. "I can only _afford_ bagels."

"You could get a job." Keith offers. "We're short on employees."

"I can't." Lance gives him a thoughtful look. "Although, my roommate is looking for a temporary job, actually."

Keith hands Lance a brochure, and that's how Hunk gets hired to Shiro's _Out of This World Coffee Shop._

xxx

Hunk and Keith meet when Shiro pulls Keith aside one day to inform him that he'll be showing Hunk the ropes.

"Jesus, how early do you have to wake up?" Hunk asks, when Keith tells him he's on the morning shift.

"It's not that bad. I take the evening shift, too, but I get my afternoons off. I usually just go to the gym." Keith shrugs mildly.

"You go the gym." Hunk notes, and glances at him sideways. "You know, Lance doesn't. I don't understand Lance. He walks, like, _nine_ blocks to this place every day. When there's a Starbucks _on campus_ , and he's usually so lazy. Do you think it's his form of exercise?"

"He _what?"_

Nine blocks.

Lance is going out of his way to frequent Shiro's coffee shop, when Keith knows for a fact that their coffee is subpar. And Keith's strengths _definitely_ aren't in the art of coffee making; he suspects that's why Shiro assigned him to the morning shift instead of Pidge.

Lance is walking nine blocks to get shitty coffee.

Dawning realization.

xxx

"Nine blocks?" Keith asks with no preamble. He just launches right into it and hopes for the best. Probably why his romantic history isn't very extensive.

(He's on the other side of the counter this time; he's been pacing for a solid hour, uselessly folding napkins and wiping clean tables, waiting for Lance to show up even though he knows perfectly well the precise time Lance usually breezes in and the exact time he departs.)

Lance opens his mouth wordlessly.

He closes it.

"Yeah." Lance says weakly.

"Why?" Keith folds his arms, trying to hide how his hands are trembling. His stomach is a wreck of nerves, flipping and folding like he's had three shots of liquid caffeine.

"That depends." Lance says, and the words render Keith speechless and bemused. "On how you feel." He takes a step forward, subtly boxing Keith in between the counter and his body. The distance is a good foot or so, but it does something funny to Keith, a curl of heat pooling in his stomach. Lance's gaze is focused directly on him, dark blue eyes boring into his, and Keith's lightheaded at the intensity of it.

His words are vague, but both of them know exactly what they're talking about.

Keith hates that Lance had somehow turned the conversation on him, backed him into a corner. But he's nothing if not adaptive.

"I don't give free coffee to just _anybody,_ dumbass." Keith finally says, unfolding his arms, and the tension seeps out of Lance so fast he practically melts.

"Right, I forgot you were stingy. Ebenezer Scrooge." Lance says, smiling giddily. The retort is only half-hearted, because both of them are grinning at each other stupidly and not really paying attention to anything else but their smiles. Keith's waited _too damn long_ for this. "Bet your friends-"

"Shut up and kiss me." Keith orders him.

Lance complies.


End file.
